Friday, May 11, 2012

Top 5 Dumbest Athlete Injuries

In honor of Amar'e Stoudemire, a New York Knicks star who punched the glass case housing a fire extinguisher, causing a cut and stitches in his hand and preventing him from playing in the pivotal third game of the playoff series, here are the five dumbest injuries suffered by professional athletes.

5: Adam Eaton (2001) - The Philadelphia Phillies were deprived of his services after he stabbed himself trying to open a DVD with a paring knife.

4: Tom Glavine (1992) - A fixture in All-Star games and future Hall of Fame pitcher, Glavine once ate really bad food on a plane. It was so bad that he threw up violently, causing him to break a rib.

3: Joel Zumaya (2006) - Played so much Guitar Hero that he hurt his wrist. This video game injury cost him opportunities to pitch in three games of his Detroit Tigers' ALCS playoff series. And yeah, I'm sure it was the game that caused it...

2: Aaron Boone (2004) - Boone was the starting third baseman for the New York Yankees. In the seventh game of the ALCS, against the hated rival Boston Red Sox, Boone homered in extra innings to advance the Yankees to the World Series. He became an instant legend and was poised to be the Yankee third baseman for a generation. Then he played a game of pick up basketball in violation of his contract. He busted his knee and was expected to miss the year. The Yankees filled the hole at third by paying a gazillion dollars for a guy named Alex Rodriguez, and Boone was permitted to play as much basketball as he wanted (he just wasn't being paid by the Yankees anymore).

1: Plaxico Burress (2008) - The New York Football Giants star brought a gun to a nightclub, carried it in his wasteband, felt it start to slide down his leg, went to grab it, and shot himself in the thigh. He would have missed the remainder of the season from the gunshot wound, but he wound up missing it for prison time instead.

I was both shocked and a little disheartened to see how many dumb injuries there are--especially in baseball. Do you have a favorite you remember? Share it in the comments below, and show your love by liking our Facebook page.

6 comments:

I feel bad for this kid, Bryce Harper. Not only did he do something incredibly stupid, but he can't even make it onto this list since his incident happened the same day this came out. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/19020082/bryce-harper-injures-self-gets-10-stitches-above-left-eye

In 1988, Bob Ojeda, a left-handed pitcher for the Mets at the time, missed the postseason when he severed the tip of his left middle finger with a pair of hedgeclippers. During microsurgery, the doctor reattached the fingertip at a 10-degree angle to help him grip the ball better.

Without Ojeda, the Mets lost the playoffs to the Dodgers that year, and that was pretty much the end of their dominance for the next decade.